MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior Sarah Remillard (Grafton, MA) drove in four runs and senior Taylor Darby (South Windsor) had four hits as the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team extended its winning streak to 16 and clinched its tenth Little East Conference regular-season championship in 15 years with a 13-3, 7-0 sweep of Plymouth State University Friday afternoon at Clyde Washburne Field. The first game was stopped after five innings due to the mercy rule.
 
In winning its seventh outright LEC regular-season title and second in a row, top-seeded Eastern (24-8, 14-0 LEC) will host the six-team, double-elimination conference tournament May 10-13.
 
Ranked No. 3 in the conference pre-season poll, Eastern looks to complete the conference's first 16-0 regular season Saturday, May 6 when it visits pre-season favorite University of Southern Maine in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Southern Maine (8-4), and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (12-4) have both lost four games in the conference, with USM visiting Castleton University Saturday before closing out against Eastern May 6. USM and UMass Dartmouth shared second place in the standings last year with 13-3 records, two games behind Eastern.
 
The Warriors are the only team in LEC history to go undefeated, that coming in 2012 in a 14-game season. This year marks the fourth year that teams play 16 games.
 
The team's current 16-game win streak equals the sixth-longest in program history.
 
In Eastern's ninth and tenth consecutive wins over Plymouth (13-19, 4-10 LEC), Remillard extended her current on-base streak to 16 with a single in Eastern's nine-run first inning in the opener, and a two-run double in a four-run second inning in the nightcap. Darby hit three hits – including her third home run of the year – and drove in two runs and scored two in the first game. She extended her hitting streak to eight – the longest by an Eastern player this year.
 
Ten players had at least one hit and scored one run in Eastern's 19-hit attack on the day, and nine drove in at least one run.
 
Senior righty Carley Stoker (Sandy Creek, NY), who pitched the first three innings of Friday's first game for her 13^th win in 14 decisions this year, reached four times on the day with three walks and an RBI double, and scored three runs. Sophomore Alexa Boone (Middletown) also scored three runs on the day, as did Darby.
 
Senior righty Alyssa Vilchez (Brampton, ON) pitched her third shutout in the last seven starts in the second game, allowing five hits while striking out six and walking four for her tenth win in 12 decision. Vilchez also scored three runs and stole two bases and became the 50^th player in program history to record 100 career hits in an Eastern uniform with an RBI single in the first inning of the opener.
 
Eastern hosts NYU Sunday at 1 p.m. in a non-conference game.